A Staffordshire-based university is leading a new programme designed to support and foster the creation of a new hydrogen economy in the Midlands.
The HyDEX project brings Keele University together with multinational businesses and SMEs from across the region in an Energy Research Accelerator (ERA) which will work to accelerate innovation in hydrogen, build markets and the supply chain and support the skills needed for the new hydrogen economy and ecosystem.
The aim of the programme is to address the challenge of building a thriving new business, industrial and manufacturing sector in hydrogen - where very little currently exists.
It will allow businesses to accelerate the development and viability of new hydrogen products and associated intellectual property, while supporting the transition from declining industrial sectors and enabling the training and re-skilling required.
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Keele joins a host of Midlands-based universities which are involved in the programme including Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick while civic partners such as Midlands Engine, Local Enterprise Partnerships, local government and local authorities will also contribute.
The three-year, £4.99 million programme will see the university partners make their £111 million worth of hydrogen facilities, large scale demonstration programmes and research capabilities available to regional businesses.
This will be supported by the expertise of leading industrial partners in transport, heating and manufacturing technologies who are also involved in HyDEX - including Worcester-Bosch, Cadent, Intelligent Energy, Toyota, FAUN Zoeller, Cenex, Progressive Energy, ITM Motive, Siemens and ENGIE.
HyDEX will also facilitate links with growing international markets in countries such as China, Australia and South Korea, in order to build commercial opportunities that reach beyond the Midlands and the UK.
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Professor Mark Ormerod, deputy vice-chancellor, provost of Keele University and institutional lead for sustainability said: "We are very excited to be launching the HyDEX programme and leading it from Keele University.
"At Keele we have been leading the way in researching the use of hydrogen in the domestic gas heating system and in smart energy systems. This experience and expertise, when combined with the wealth of knowledge and expertise in the ERA partnership and our collaborators will enable HyDEX to have a really significant impact on the use of hydrogen in the future as part of our transition to a low carbon society."
Keele has already played a crucial role in demonstrating the potential of hydrogen, with the landmark HyDeploy project which ran on campus during 2020. The project, run in partnership with Cadent, saw hydrogen successfully blended into Keele's campus gas network to show the potential for hydrogen to significantly reduce the carbon emissions associated with domestic and business heating and cooking.
Dr Sharon George of Keele University, principal investigator for HyDEX, said: "I am looking forward to leading the HyDEX programme. It will be a great challenge - we are seeking to support the building of a hydrogen economy where one currently doesn't exist.
"I am confident that with our academic, industrial and public sector partners, we will be able to demonstrate the commercial potential of hydrogen technologies, support businesses to create products and build the skills base needed to support the transition to hydrogen."
Professor Martin Freer, director of the ERA, added: "The ERA universities have invested significantly in hydrogen infrastructure, creating an array of great facilities and demonstration projects. The HyDEX programme will see experts from our universities, working with Midlands' businesses to use these facilities to develop new, innovative products."
